Universities draw up charter to improve ‘Mickey Mouse’ degrees

VICE- CHANCELLORS are to clamp down on “low quality” degrees as they say it is not in students’ interests to allow them to go “unchecked”.

Universities UK is drawing up a charter to ensure institutions take a “consistent and transparent approach to identifying and improving potentially low value or low quality courses”.

It is the first time that vice-chancellors have sought formally to address the i ssue of so- called “Mickey Mouse” courses, which are regarded by ministers as poor value for both students and the taxpayer.

“In the longer term, universities will also consider options for external assurance or independent review to make their processes stronger as part of an ongoing charter,” UUK said.

The intervention comes as the Government prepares its response to the official review of higher education, known as the Augar review. Ministers have previously criticised universities for running “threadbare” courses in a rush to get “bums on seats”, and the Tory manifesto pledged to tackle the issue of low-value degrees.

Gavin Williamson, the Education Secretary, said that when it comes to university degrees he wants to “promote the best and squeeze out the worst”. He told The Daily Telegraph: “The tackling of low quality is something that actually is going to be very much a part of the reforms that we continue to drive forward.”

An analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies published last year found that “creative arts” graduates cost the taxpayer £35,000 each.

Subjects such as music, drama, fine art and design studies are the most costly to the taxpayer since so few alumni earn enough money to pay back their student loan in full.

Of the £9 billion that the Government spends on higher education each year, more than £1 billion is on creative arts courses alone, where three-quarters of the total amount paid out in loans is picked up by the taxpayer.

But vice-chancellors have cautioned against defining the “value” of a degree purely in terms of graduate earnings and employability.

They argue that other factors such as career satisfaction, and the contribution of a job to a local or national economy should be taken into account.

The terms of reference for the charter, which will be published this week, state that failing to take action against low-quality degrees could “undermine public confidence” in universities.

Prof Julia Buckingham, president of UUK and vice-chancellor of Brunel University, said that the overwhelming majority of courses are high quality and offer good value for students. But she added: “The public needs full confidence in the value and quality of a UK university degree, and the charter will demonstrate universities’ commitment to constant improvement.”